Antioxidative Properties of Selected Polish Honeys

The antioxidative activities of honeys collected in Poland were screened. The total antioxidant potential (TAP) provides more information about the system than the determination of individual antioxidant. TAP is proportional to the sum of products of concentrations of all antioxidants in the sample and their antioxidant powers (rate constants). To measure, compare and correlate TAPs, we used techniques which we had recently elaborated (i) related to hydroxyl radicals, (ii) RP-HPLC measurements with amperometric detection and (iii) differential pulsed voltammetry (DPV). They were correlated with techniques already described in the literature (i) related to the DPPH radicals, (ii) the total content of phenolic compounds and (iii) color intensity. All assays revealed the following order of obtained TAP values: buckwheat > honeydew > linden > multi-flower> acacia honey. Correlations were found between results obtained using different techniques. There was also a significant correlation with the results obtained by authors using other measurement techniques. Differences in antioxidant properties among individual honeys are inversely proportional to the strength of the radicals in relation to which measurements were performed. This is due to the fact that strong radicals react not only with strong antioxidants but also with weak ones, which are much more common. The darker honeys were also observed to be characterized by higher TAP values.